ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 972, 12 November 1910, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

(Bi Mercury.) To-day.—Boy Scout and Athletic Meeting (Basin Reserve). November 23.—Korori A.A.C. Evening Meeting. Members of the W.A.A.C. are reminded of tho club's annual general meeting on' Monday night at the I.M.C.A. rooms. The Newtown Park Carnival. Tho new athletic season was fairly launched at the Newtown Park on Saturday. The whole affair was a most successful one, but it is only intended here of course to touch upon the athletic events. The back was good, being infinitely better than that at the Basin Reserve, tho fields were fair, and the racing good. A few details of the sport follow. Both sprint events were won by h. o. Gapper—the 100 yards in 10 3-ssec, off 51 yards, nnd tho 220 yards in 23 2-ssec., olf *8 yards—a smart performance this latter. Tho placed men in the 100 yards heats were Hubbard (scratch), Overcnd (5J yards), and Dunn (3i yards), in the first, and Gapper (5i yards), Dawson (2 yards), and Cunningham (5 yards) in the second. Dawson was penalised lor breaking in the final, and elected not to start. Cunningham ran into second place to Gapper in the run off, with Overend third. The 220 sprint was disposed of in one run. Hubbard was scratch, with Dunn on 5 yards. Gapper won by a short vard, with the samo distance separating the two back-markers in their starting order in the places. <

What Befel in the Mile, The mile run was a great race, with as sensational a finish as one could wish to see. Eight started, with D. Binnie on the scratch mark, with L. E. Baxter nearest to him on 10 yards, the limit man, C. 'J. Gore, being out on 90 yards. Goro set out at a good clip, with Curry nnd Rollo lying handy, and this order was kept for the first half. Here Binnie, evidently short of work, pulled out. At the bell Goro was still leading, and looking all over a winner. Curry was some fifteen yards away second, while Baxter had moved up into third place, but appeared to be making no irnpres- , sion on the leader. With about 200 yards to go, Gore was striding out well, seemingly full of running, when Baxter began to cut down Curry's lead, lie still had fully 30 yards'to catch on Gore, and his case seemed hopeless. However, when the leader entered the straight Baxter opened out like a sprinter, and came along with a splendid burst, picking up Curry en route. Still it seemed hopeless. Thou tho roar from th-> crowd "rattled" Gore. With only thirty yards to go, and a ten-yard lead, ho faltered, and —fatal error—looked back. Even then he seemed to havo the raco safe, but the cheering crowd reckoned without its Baxter. Ho simply tore down tho straight like a train, carrying Curry along in his way. Half a yard Irom the tape he was still behind, but with a desperate leap ho got there—by the smallest of inches. Curry was about two yards away, third. It was a great race—great for Baxter, great for the crowd, and great for Mr. \V. H. Pollock, the handicapper. Tho time, *lmin. 45sec., was very fair, for so early in the season, considering the smart breezo blowing down tho back of tho course, and could have, been materially bettered by tho winner had ho made more ground in tho first half, as he could easily have done, judging from his terrific sprint at the business end. In fact ho all but judged liis race very badly—as it was, he judged it beautifully. Uoro ran with a good raking style, and is a nice cut of a miier, but lie made a fatal error in tho straight in looking back. It cost him the race, and ho is hereby recommended to study the circumstances connected with the untimely end of the better half, of one Lot, who erred similarly.

Half-mile and Quarter-mile. The half-mile was won by J. Finn,, a hard trier, who does not scoro as often as his persistence deserves. In fact, in tho- present instance no one was moro surprised than ho was himself. However, surprises, like misfortunes, do. not run singly, and Finn, later in the afternoon, sustained another shock by finding himself the winner of the potato race. Hubbard started virtual scratch in the quarter-mile, off 7 yards, J. Wilton, the handicapped back-marker, not turning out, The winner, J. W. Coard, ran a hard race, and got homo in 53 3-ssec., off 17 yards, with Hubbard second, about a yard away, and Cunningham (12 yards) a good third. ; . The Walk. Only three started in the walk, Cashman, the provincial champion, being scratch, Paddy Fitzgerald, _ in the unwanted position of a handicap man on 25-yards, and Geo. Turner on 95 yards. The limit man carried too much condition for the veterans, and tho three finished in the original order with a 20 yards gap between each of them. Cashman did not walk as pleasingly as ho did last Season. His gait was right enough, in fact none of the .three transgressed in this respect, ,but his' arm work was cramped and his action was not at all free, lhe winner's time, 7min. 3sec., is well within his power when fit, so evidently he was short in his preparation.

The Two Field Events. There were two field events—a high jump and a hop, step, ftud jump, and both were annexed by that sturdy warrior J. M. ll'liay. Tho high jumping was poor, sft. liu. being the winning mark, but the hop, step, and jump produced somo creditable efforts. li'Kay covered 41ft. lin., 42ft., and 43ft. 4in. m his three attempts, and the second performer, A Brennan, a St. Patrick's College boy reached 40ft. This same lad, on three occasions, jumped over 43ft. at his college sports last week and evidently has a future in this department if he sticks to it.

Something Like Jumps. High jumping is evidently improving in Australia, and judging by American amateur-standards, not before it is time. Last year it. will bo remembered that Eric Russell, tho Victorian jumper established an Australasian record by clearing lilt, at Hobartj and now news comes that a Melbourne lad, L. H. Kell}', of the Wesley College, has twice recently cleared Bit. It is now our turn. Our jumping never has been good, but up till now it has been good enough for 'Australasian standards. Now it is behind, and. with this knowledge to spur us on, surely wo can find a Dominion jumper to top tho fathom mark.

How- Wobb was "Downed." Last week it was briefly noted that the English champion walker, E. J. Webb, had succumbed to G. Goulding, the Canadian "ped" in two match races over one and three miles respectively. Particulars arc now to hand as under:— In the milo GoUlding went away at a great pace, and Webb had all his work cut out to keep near his fellow competitor. A hundred yards from home the pair were still together, but at' this point Goulding drew out, and, "finishing at a fine pace, won in Gmin. 32 2-ssec., Webb being five or six yards in tho rear. Tho three miles race was a deal slower, both walkers feeling the effect of the earlier contest. Webb forced tho pace a good deal after the first' mile, but he could not shako Goulding oIT, while the latter was apparently content to remain with the Englishman. Tho last half-.'nile was a great struggle; but Webb, although lie tried his utmost, could not open up a- gap, and fifty yards from home Goulding came again, and, beating his opponent for pace, won by three yards in, 23min. Gsec. Interviewed by a "Sporting Life" representative after the event, Webb said:— "In my opinion, Goulding is the best walker in tho world. He has adopted Larner's stylo to a step, and the Brighton walker is the only mail I can think of who might beat him. I should Oiink him a very likely winner for the next Olympic Games unless we can unearth some hidden talent. Tell some of the younger ones to buck up for England's sake; surely wo have as good men physically in the Old Country, and ought' to find a champion amongst them, lie wil! need to bo all over a champion to beat Goulding." ■ For. purposes ot comparison it. is interesting to note that ot Brisbane in August last year Harry Kerr won his Australasian championship in Gmin. 33 4-sscc. for tho mile and 22min. 2 l-ssee. for tho thrco miles, so perhaps there are walkers besides Goulding and Lamer who would fill Webb's description-